Second graders at Park Meadows Elementary School got a different kind of physical education class when Arizona Cardinals players traded the football field for the school gym as part of a new program promoting movement, teamwork and healthy lifestyles.<\/p>\n
Cardinals safety Wydett Williams Jr. said interacting with the students gave him an opportunity to connect with children while enjoying the activities himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great feeling to put a smile on these kids\u2019 faces and see their excitement when we walk in,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying myself, too, but it\u2019s really about making sure the kids have a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Park Meadows, part of the Deer Valley Unified School District, was selected to help launch the Cardinals\u2019 new \u201cP.E. with a Pro\u201d program, which brings players into Valley elementary schools to participate alongside physical education teachers and students. Williams and running back Evan Hull participated in the program\u2019s launch at Park Meadows.<\/p>\n
The program is designed to encourage active lifestyles and healthy choices while emphasizing movement, teamwork and physical and mental wellness. About 70 second graders participated in the Park Meadows event.<\/p>\n
Principal Pam Vigil said Park Meadows was selected to pilot the program because of a longstanding relationship she has developed with the Cardinals organization. The team has previously approached the school when testing new community programs, allowing students to participate while the organization gathers feedback.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting because we\u2019ll be able to talk with the community relations department, talk about the types of things that work really well and help make suggestions on how they can make the program better,\u201d Vigil said.<\/p>\n
For the students, Vigil said, the visit offered a chance to interact with professional athletes in a way many children might not otherwise experience.<\/p>\n
P.E. coach Dan Hinton designed an obstacle course for the event, spending about two and a half hours setting it up with help from his sons.<\/p>\n
Students rode scooter boards down a ramp, navigated a \u201cfloor is lava\u201d section, weaved through hockey goals and finished by traveling through a parachute tunnel. The Cardinals players were there to encourage the students and participate with them throughout the course.<\/p>\n
Hinton said the activities were intended to do more than simply give students an opportunity to meet professional athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always want them to learn to work together,\u201d Hinton said. \u201cThat\u2019s always a big thing with P.E., the social side of it, having fun with their friends. Not only that, but just having fun and getting a workout in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those lessons closely align with Hinton\u2019s regular approach to physical education. He said students begin classes with cardio and different types of movement before applying those skills to games and other activities.<\/p>\n
Teamwork, honesty, integrity and sportsmanship are also emphasized.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big teamwork guy,\u201d Hinton said. \u201cBeing fair and being honest and showing integrity during our games as well is a huge part of my classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vigil said those values extend beyond the gym at Park Meadows, where students are encouraged to collaborate, support one another and learn how to handle disagreements constructively.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeamwork is really huge,\u201d Vigil said. \u201cWe want to make sure that our students work together and they support and help each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vigil said exposing children to those messages at a young age can make an impression, particularly when they hear them from someone they recognize as a professional athlete. She also hopes students see the players as examples of people who once had dreams similar to their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want them to set big dreams and work toward those dreams,\u201d Vigil said.<\/p>\n
Williams said physical activity became part of his life at an early age, but he never viewed exercise simply as an obligation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked out a lot, but I had fun doing it,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI didn\u2019t find it as, \u2018Man, I got to go work out.\u2019 It was more so, \u2018Man, I get to go work out.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoyed what I did in my preparation to be here, so each and every day, I fall in love with the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hinton said that is an important lesson for elementary-age students. Rather than focusing on a single sport or exercise, he encourages children to find activities they enjoy and try different ways to stay active, whether that means basketball, foursquare, gaga ball, tag or another activity.<\/p>\n
He also tries to introduce sports that students may initially find intimidating. Floor hockey, for example, can turn some of his more hesitant students into enthusiastic participants once they understand the game and become comfortable playing it.<\/p>\n
For Hinton, having professional football players reinforce those lessons makes healthy living more relatable.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir profession is fitness and taking care of their bodies,\u201d Hinton said, adding that professional athletes must consider exercise, nutrition and mental wellness.<\/p>\n
Williams also emphasized the role of teamwork and community in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only bonding with your team, but bonding with the community and showing that you actually care,\u201d Williams said. \u201cYou just want to see them happy just as much as we are happy on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opportunity carried additional significance for Park Meadows because some students may never otherwise have a chance to meet an NFL player or attend a professional football game, Vigil said.<\/p>\n
Vigil hopes the excitement surrounding the visit eventually becomes something more lasting.<\/p>\n
She said the program can give teachers opportunities to continue conversations about setting goals, working hard and maintaining a healthy lifestyle after the players leave.<\/p>\n
Williams offered a similar message to students with ambitions of their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust never give up,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt may get hard, but still smile your way through it, and never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cardinals plan to bring the program to other schools, with Park Meadows providing feedback from its experience as an early participant. Vigil said the program is not limited to second grade and can be adapted for other grade levels.<\/p>\n
For Hinton, the visit was about showing students that the professional athletes they look up to once started in the same place they did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they get a sense that they started from the same place they did as second graders, and they\u2019ve worked themselves up to a position where they\u2019re a role model now,\u201d Hinton said. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Second graders at Park Meadows Elementary School got a different kind of physical education class when Arizona Cardinals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1016430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,132814,132815,7,6,132813,116511],"class_list":["post-1016429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizonacardinals","tag-cardinals","tag-dan-hinton","tag-deer-valley-unified-school-district","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-park-meadows-elementary-school","tag-wydett-williams-jr"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117370300862235642","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1016430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1016429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1016429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}